Woman dies after cow running across road hits two-wheeler near Chennai

CHENNAI: In a bizarre series of events involving a horse-drawn cart and a cow that was left to roam the streets resulted in the death of a 52-year-old woman who was riding pillion with her son, in Kundrathur in Kancheepuram late on Wednesday.

The police arrested the man who was on the horse cart, while a hunt is on for the owner of the cow that hit the two-wheeler.

According to the police, Singari of SKS Avenue in Nandambakkam, wife of Murugan (56), went to Kundrathur with her son, Sivaraman (24) on Wednesday evening. After buying household essentials, the mother and son started for home.

When they reached near Kaletti Pettai on the Nandambakkam road, an untethered cow ran across the road all of a sudden. Before Sivaraman could swerve, the cow hit his bike, and the woman and her son were thrown off the vehicle. Police said Singari suffered serious head injury in the fall and died on the spot, while Sivaraman sustained minor injuries.

Based on an alert, the Chromepet traffic investigation wing police rushed to the scene, and shifted Singari's body to the Chromepet Government Hospital for post-mortem examination.

After registering a case, the police began investigation. They found that the cow got scared and ran on to the road after being startled by a horse-drawn carriage that made a loud noise. That was when it came across Singari and Sivaraman.

Following this, the police arrested Venkatraman (41) of Pudupettai area near Somangalam, who was driving the horse cart. However, by the time the police reached the spot, the cow involved in the accident had fled from there. Now, officials are investigating who the owner of the cattle is.

According to local public, stray cattle menace has been a constant problem that they have been facing. Despite repeated complaints, the local authorities have not initiated any steps, they alleged.